Item - 2023.IE6.2

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council approve a pilot project of up to twelve (12) months at on-street paid parking locations to allow Mobile Only Zones as generally described in the report (September 6, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services to allow customers paying for parking to do so through the Green P App, text to pay or by scanning a QR code to complete paid parking transactions and request that the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the President, Toronto Parking Authority, report back to City Council on the outcome of the pilot project and recommend next steps.

2. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 910 to establish new offences in relation to Mobile Only Zones, generally as set out in Attachment 1 to the report (September 6, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, and establish an associated penalty amount of $30.00 for each such new offence.

3. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 179, Parking Authority, City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 610, Penalties, Administration of, City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 910, Parking Machines and Meters, City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 925, Permit Parking, City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking and City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 903, Parking for Persons with Disabilities, as outlined in Attachment 1 to the report (September 6, 2023) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, to allow for the establishment of Mobile Only Zones.

4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bills to give effect to City Council's decision and City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make any necessary clarifications, refinements, minor modifications, technical amendments, or by-law amendments as may be identified by the City Solicitor or General Manager, Transportation Services, in order to give effect to Recommendations 1 to 3, above.

5. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, to undertake a comprehensive review of various on-street parking administrative penalty amounts and report back at in January 2024 meeting of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on revised administrative penalty amounts.

Since the introduction of the Green P Mobile Application in 2016, the Toronto Parking Authority has seen adoption in the use of the Green P App grow from just 49 percent of all customer transactions in 2016 to over 75 percent in 2023, with a total of 1.6 million subscribers. Over 12 million customer transactions in 2023 have taken place on the Green P App. By the end of 2024, the Toronto Parking Authority forecasts that growth will continue to increase to approximately 79 percent of customer transactions and to 85 percent by the end of 2025. The increase in mobile usage has resulted in a corresponding reduction in the percentage of customer transactions utilizing Pay and Display parking machines. 

Toronto Parking Authority's current on-street paid parking portfolio includes approximately 21,500 parking spaces and accepts payment via 2,728 Pay and Display parking machines, 178 single-space parking meters, and the Green P App. In 2022, Toronto Parking Authority's on-street paid parking program generated $44.7 million in revenues.

The Toronto Parking Authority conducted a review of how best to manage aspects of on-street parking operations, and how paid parking equipment (i.e. Pay and Display parking machines and single space meters) are being used as part of the larger on-street paid parking program. Through this review, the Toronto Parking Authority identified that Pay and Display parking machines which are located in low volume areas or are servicing a threshold of five (5) or less parking stalls per one (1) Pay and Display machine and do not generate sufficient revenue to off-set operational costs should be identified for transition.  As a result, and in an effort to sustain paid parking areas which helps drive turnover for local businesses, the Toronto Parking Authority reviewed alternative options to the current On-Street paid parking program including the introduction of "Mobile Only Zones" where customers can pay for parking using a number of mobile options including, the Green P App, text to pay or by scanning a QR code.

Transportation Services and Toronto Parking Authority staff have reviewed the current on-street paid parking inventory and are proposing to pilot thirteen (13) Mobile Only Zones based on one (1) or more of the following criteria:

• High mobile utilization within that specific area or location (greater than 70 percent utilization),
• Low number of parking stalls at minimum five (5) or less parking stalls per one (1) Pay and Display parking machine,
• Locations containing legacy single space meters which have reached the end of their serviceable life, or
• Located in the downtown core for prototype purposes (learning opportunity in a busier environment).

The Toronto Parking Authority staff will monitor the operation of these thirteen (13) Mobile Only Zones throughout the duration of a one (1) year pilot program to determine success against key performance indicators.

This report also seeks Council approval to amend a number of City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapters to add Mobile Only Zones to the on-street paid parking program in order to conduct the pilot.